WHAT  A MAN!

I want to talk about a great man today. A ‘soft, gentle man’. A ‘reserved, shy, softly spoken, polite and accommodating individual’. The father of three teenaged children who lived at home caring for his ailing mother.

Almost a saint really. But, oops, I forget to add one small thing. His name is Kabalan Mokbel, a drug dealer. Brother of gangland boss, cocaine smuggler, alleged murderer and fugitive, Tony Mokbel.

He was caught red-handed with more than two kilograms of methamphetamine in a box on the front seat of his car and about two thousands bucks in cash.

At the time he told Police ‘I’m just a delivery man’.  You don’t make that sort of money delivering pizzas.

His lawyer Stephen Shirrefs SC ( the Mokbels don’t use juniors) said Kabalan Mokbel’s involvement in the drug ring was ‘a very limited role’.

Just the delivery man. Of course, it’s hard to get illegal drugs from the factory to the victim without a reliable delivery man and with all the money that’s involved it’s wise to keep it in the family. The drugs from a gang factory in Rye were given to Kabalan Mokbel and his younger brother Tony.

You really need to cue the violins when you listen to what his lawyer had to say about a man who was absolutely guilt-stricken by how he had devastated his mother and his wife Anita and his teenaged daughters and son.

I’m not sure if the devastation was prompted by what he had done as a drug dealer or by the embarrassment of being caught.

Lawyer Shirrefs said that Mokbel migrated to Australia from Lebanon when he was 13 and after his father died he, as the eldest brother, became the man of the family.

What a man. What a family. He’s in Barwon Prison. His brothers Horty and Milad are in jail and brother Tony is in jail in Athens awaiting extradition to serve a minimum of nine years for drug-smuggling and to stand trial for other crimes.

The defence lawyer said his client was not likely to find himself offending in drug matters again. Probably true with all his family in jail.

And one thing strikes me. As it often does in cases like this. Mokbel’s kids are 17,16 and 14.

I wonder how he would react, or Fat Tony would react, if they found a drug dealer with a box of goodies on the front seat of his car if it were parked in his driveway – targeting his kids.

Would he say: ‘You’re just the delivery man. You’re not responsible. You shouldn’t be punished.’ Not bloody likely. _

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

©Copyright Derryn Hinch 2007